By Larry Arreguin
DETROIT, MI, June 5, 2022: After 22 years of racing on Belle Isle, the final race was won by a Roger Penske led Team. Will Power (#12, Verizon Team Penske), started off in the 16th position and made his way to first place on the 14th lap of 70. The win gave Team Penske their 8th at Belle Isle and racked up another win for the Chevrolet engine. “There such a good field of great drivers,” stated the Australian who with the win, moved into first place in the NTT INDYCAR Championship Standings.
Josef Newgarden (#2, Hitachi Team Penske) won the pole and led the race for the first 13 laps. The lead was taken by Will Power and held for 11 laps, until Scott Dixon (#9, PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing) captured the lead on the 25th lap. This was held briefly and on the next lap Alex Palou (#10, NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing), was the leader. On the 27th lap, Power (#12) retook the lead and never looked back.
For fans the 1 hour and 32 minute race was sold out in most areas and with the exception of one caution on the final lap, it was without any crashes. The race also featured 1 of 2 female drivers on the ITT INDYCAR circuit – Tatiana Calderon (#11, ROKiT / AJ Foyt Racing). Calderon from Bogota Columbia finished 23rd out of the 26 cars racing. Another fan favorite Pato O’Ward (#5, Arrow McLaren SP) from Monterrey, Mexico started off in 5th place and finished the race in 5th. After the race he visited with fans and signed autographs and took pictures.
Next year the race moves further west to Downtown Detroit and will be held from June 2nd thru the 4th. The race will be held on 1.7 miles of Detroit’s streets and feature 10 turns. With the move, it should provide even greater access to fans.
